Mumbai, Jan 11 (PTI) The mountain of runs that he has
plundered so far in first-class cricket has ensured that the
focus is trained on young Rishabh Pant as India A get ready to
take on visiting England in the second and final warm-up match
here tomorrow.

This will be the last practice game before the six-match
limited overs series - three ODIs and as many T20Is - begins
with the first ODI in Pune on Sunday.

Pant, who was part of the India U-19 squad that finished
runner-up to the West Indies in the last junior World Cup, has
impressed one and all with his exploits in recent times.

His 308 against Maharashtra at almost run-a-ball, an
innings that contained as many as 9 sixes and 42 fours, at the
beginning of this Ranji Trophy season was followed by another
blistering three-figure knock against Jharkhand, which helped
him earn a call-up to the India T20 squad for T20
Internationals against England.

The pint-sized wicketkeeper, who is seen by many as
Mahendra Singh Dhoni's successor, should relish the Brabourne
Stadium track that afforded good bounce and on which the ball
came on nicely in last night's day/night practice game, which
England won.

But not all attention will be on Pant as there's a rival
to him for the wicketkeeper batsman's spot in Jharkhand's
Ishan Kishan, his teammate in the World Cup U-19 side and also
an attacking batsman like the Delhi player.

The selectors have named Kishan as wicketkeeper for the
game.

Skipper Ajinkya Rahane, coming off a long injury-lay off,
will play his first game after his rehabilitation and would be
eager to hit the straps before the ODI series.

Suresh Raina, who has lost his spot in the ODI team but
is a member of the T20 squad, would also be keen to hit the
high note.

There are other all-round aspirants like Vijay Shankar,
Parvez Rasool and Deepak Hooda, besides experienced batsman
Sheldon Jackson in the India A ranks.

The frontline bowling would be handled by senior pacers
Vinay Kumar, Ashok Dinda and Pradeep Sangwan, along with left-
arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem.

England too would like a game to be given to their main
all-rounder Ben Stokes, wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow and
speedster Liam Plunkett who were in the reserves yesterday.

Key batsman Joe Root is, however, unlikely to play the
game as he is set to join the team only tomorrow and then
travel with the others to Pune for the first ODI.